Miami Jewish Film Festival Opens January 12

The Miami Jewish Film Festival is set to take over Miami for its 20th year. From January 12 to January 26, 2017, they will be hosting 64 films from 20 countries. Their special guests include Academy Award-nominee Nancy Spielberg, Emmy Award-winning director Roberta Grossman, Emmy Award-winning actor Stuart Margolin, and Goodwill Ambassador of Israel and sports legend Tal Brody.

The Festival will open with the premiere of The Women’s Balcony, which has been a huge box office hit in Israel, and will close with Avi Nesher’s Past Life. The closing night will feature a live choir in support of the film’s theme of music.

Jewish music is going to be a big theme for the festival this upcoming year. The Canadian drama Nightsong, directed by Raphael Nadjari, will be featured as well as the documentary Exit: Music, which centers around the music that was prohibited by the Nazis during the Third Reich. Both of these films will have live music performances including South Florida’s Second Avenue Jewish Chorale accompanying the premiere of Nightsong, and The Amernet String Quartet, a chamber group from Florida International University who will perform the actual Jewish music that was suppressed by the Nazis for the premiere of Exit: Music. Also featured will be the film Mr. Gaga, an SXSW Film Festival Documentary Audience Award winner that captures the beauty of contemporary dance, which will be complimented by a live performance of the Miami dance group, Dance Now.

The festival will also be hosting their Short Film Competition, which will grant the winner a distribution contract and a cash prize. This is a partnership with the Film Movement, a US distributor.

Other films that will be screened are Ferenc Torok’s 1945, which is said to be hauntingly beautiful, Andrei Konchalovsky’s Paradise, a candidate of Oscar’s Best Foreign Language Film, Eran Kolirin’s anticipated drama Beyond the Mountains and Hills, Daniel Burman’s award-winning film The Tenth Man, and Radu Jude’s Locarno Film Festival winner Scarred Hearts.

Tickets for the festival are already on sale and will continue throughout the festival. Single tickets are available for $13 and full festival passes will be available for $250. Visit the Miami Jewish Film Festival for more information.

Article By: Pierina Hidalgo

Pierina Hidalgo is interning for the FIU Film Studies Program, Fall 2016 Semester. She is an English major who is also pursuing the FIU Film Certificate.